Make-up brush and method for manufacturing such a brush

ABSTRACT

The brush ( 1 ) includes a core ( 2 ) formed from a metal wire bent into a U and the branches of which are twisted to trap radial bristles ( 3 ) between them, the core ( 2 ) being fixed to the end of a wand ( 6 ). The branches of the core are twisted, turning to the left, to form turns which turn in the clockwise direction about the axis (X) of the core when progressing from the wand towards the end of the brush, whereas the bristles ( 3 ) of the brush form helical layers (S) rising from left to right in the area located between the core and an observer who holds the brush substantially vertical in front of him/her with its tip pointing upwards.

[0001] The invention relates to a make-up brush, particularly forapplying mascara to the eyelashes, of the type of those which include acore formed from a metal wire bent into a U and the branches of whichare twisted to trap radial bristles between them, the core being fixedat the end of a wand.

[0002] A brush of this type is shown, for example, by FR-A-2,663,826.

[0003] When making-up, the user holds the wand of the brush forming anon-zero angle with respect to the mean transverse line of the two eyes.As a result, with conventional brushes known to date, the userfrequently offers up the bristles of the brush in alignment with theeyelashes and deposits blobs of mascara, without separating theeyelashes. The make-up effect obtained therefore needs to be improved.

[0004] Furthermore, the brush is generally placed in a containercontaining the mascara, this container being equipped with a neckprovided with a wringing device through which the brush passes. It isdesirable for it to be possible for wringing to take place with lowerresistance, giving a better smoothing of the product along the bristles.

[0005] The object of the invention, above all, is to provide a make-upbrush, particularly for applying mascara to the eyelashes, which nolonger exhibits the drawbacks recalled above, or exhibits them to alesser degree.

[0006] According to the invention, a make-up brush of the sort definedpreviously is characterized in that the branches of the core aretwisted, turning to the left, to form turns which, viewed along the axisof the core from that end which is fixed in the wand, turn in theclockwise direction about the axis of the core when progressing from thewand towards the end of the brush, whereas the bristles of the brushform helical layers rising from left to right in the area locatedbetween the core and an observer who holds the substantially verticalbrush in front of him/her with its tip pointing upwards.

[0007] Preferably, the angle of inclination of the layers of bristleswith respect to the axis is approximately 35°.

[0008] In general, the wand carrying the core includes, at its enddistant from the core, a stopper provided with a screw thread forscrewing onto the neck of a container containing the mascara, this neckbeing equipped with a wringing device through which the brush passeswhen it is withdrawn from the container; according to the invention, thebranches of the core of the brush are twisted to form turns turning inthe same direction as the screw thread of the stopper.

[0009] In practice, the direction of screwing of the stopper relative tothe container is the clockwise direction, and the branches of the coreare twisted so that the turns turn in the clockwise direction about theaxis of the core when progressing from that part of the core which isfixed in the wand towards the free end of the core.

[0010] Thus, the rotational movement for unscrewing the stopper relativeto the neck takes place in the same direction as the rotational movementwhich unscrews the brush relative to the wringing device.

[0011] The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing amake-up brush, according to which method, after having folded a metalwire over into a U, and after having placed bristles between thebranches of the U, the branches of the U are twisted by turning the bentpart of the U in the anticlockwise direction relative to the free endsof the branches.

[0012] For shaping the bristles of the brush the direction of rotationof the brush and the direction of rotation of a trimmer are reversedwith respect to the usual direction of rotation.

[0013] The invention consists, apart from the arrangements expoundedhereinabove, of a certain number of other arrangements which will bedealt with more fully later with regard to embodiments which aredescribed with reference to the drawings appended hereto but which arein no way limiting.

[0014]FIG. 1 of these drawings is a diagram illustrating the making-upof the eyelashes with a brush in accordance with the prior art.

[0015]FIG. 2 is a diagram similar to that of FIG. 1 illustratingmaking-up with a brush in accordance with the invention.

[0016]FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams illustrating phases of manufacturingthe core of a brush according to the invention.

[0017]FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the cutting of the bristles ofthe brush.

[0018]FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5.

[0019]FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic section illustrating the beginning oftaking a brush according to the invention out of its mascara container.

[0020]FIG. 8 illustrates the passage of the brush according to theinvention through the wringing device.

[0021]FIG. 9, finally, is a diagram of a variant embodiment of thebrush.

[0022] Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a diagram can be seenillustrating a making-up operation using a brush 100 of the prior art,carried by a wand 101. The eyelid P of the right eye is viewed fromabove. The user holds the wand 101 in her right hand forming an angle Abetween the axis of the wand and a line L parallel to the meantransverse line of the two eyes. The angle A is, in practice, of theorder of 10 to 15°. In the conventional brush 100, the bristles 102 formlayers 103 in a helix which, for an observer holding the brush 100vertically in front of him/her, with its end pointing upwards, rise fromright to left in the area lying between the observer and the axis of thebrush.

[0023] With such an arrangement, as visible in FIG. 1, eyelashes C arepractically aligned with the layers 103 of bristles of the brush. As aresult blobs of mascara are deposited on the eyelashes without thesebeing separated by brushing. The resulting make-up effect needs to beimproved.

[0024] To do that, according to the invention, a mascara brush 1includes a core 2 formed from a metal wire f bent into a Uconventionally as illustrated in FIG. 3, the bristles 3 being arrangedbetween the branches 4, 5 of the U, substantially perpendicularly to theplane of these branches 4 and 5. The said branches 4 and 5 are thentwisted by turning to the left, that is to say in the anticlockwisedirection, the bent-over end of the U with respect to the free ends ofthe branches. This twisting movement is illustrated by an arrow g inFIG. 3.

[0025] To show the turns obtained clearly, FIG. 4 represents thebranches 4, 5 twisted partially, the turns not yet being substantiallyadjoining. When the core is finished, as illustrated in FIG. 2, theturns are practically adjoining, gripping the bristles 3 between them.

[0026] It appears from FIGS. 2 and 4 that the turns of the core 2,viewed along the axis X from the free ends of the branches 4, 5 whichare intended to be fixed in the wand, turn in the clockwise directionabout the axis X of the core when progressing from the free end of thebranches 4, 5 towards the opposite end of the core. The bristles 3 ofthe brush form helical layers S rising from left to right in an arealocated between the core and an observer who holds the brushsubstantially vertical in front of him/her with its tip pointingupwards. To illustrate this direction of rise of the layers S clearly,the layers which are located to the front of the plane of the drawinghave been represented in solid line, whereas those which are located tothe rear of the plane have been represented in dashes.

[0027] The mean angle of inclination B of the layers S with respect tothe axis of the core 2 depends on the pitch of the turns of the core 2.

[0028] With a brush 1 in accordance with the invention, in which theturns are reversed with respect to a conventional brush, duringmaking-up, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the eyelashes C are offered uptransversely to the layers S of bristles, which has the effect ofdepositing the make-up product more homogeneously, and above all, ofseparating the eyelashes C right from the start. With the same angle Aof approximately 15°, the eyelashes C are at substantially 70° acrossthe layers S for an angle B of approximately 35°.

[0029] The bristles 3, when they are placed between the branches 4, 5 ofthe U, as illustrated in FIG. 3, generally have the same length andtheir ends are aligned, the middle of the bristles being substantiallyon the axis of the core. As a result, after twisting the branches 4, 5,the envelope surface of the ends of the bristles is a cylindricalsurface, axisymmetric about the axis X of the core. In general, thebrush 1 is given a shape which is different from the cylindrical shape,for example a frustoconical shape tapered towards that end which isdistant from the wand.

[0030] To do that, a trimmer 7 is used, for example of frustoconicalshape, of axis parallel to that of the core, but pointing in theopposite direction. During the cutting operation, the brush 1 and thetrimmer 7 are made to turn about their respective axis. Owing to thereversal of the direction of the turns, with respect to a conventionalbrush, the brush and the trimmer are made to rotate in a direction whichis the reverse of that adopted for cutting a conventional brush.

[0031] The brush 1 generally includes, at that end of the wand 6 whichis remote from the core 2, a stopper 8 (see FIGS. 7 and 8) equipped withan internal screw thread 9 for screwing onto the external screw thread10 of the neck 11 of a container R containing the mascara. This neck 11is provided, internally, with a wringing device 12 generally consistingof a sort of washer made from a flexible material, particularly from anelastomeric material; the diameter of the internal orifice of thewringing device 12 is only slighly greater than that of the wand 6, sothat passing through this wringing device 12 takes place with a certainresistance developed by the bristles 3, which must fold at leastpartially.

[0032] According to the invention, the turns of the core 2 of the brushand the layers S of bristles turn about the axis of the wand 6 in thesame direction as the internal screw thread 9 of the stopper 8 and asthe external screw thread 10 of the neck 11.

[0033] When the brush 1 is extracted from the container R, the userfirst of all exerts a rotational movement on the stopper 8 to unscrew itfrom the neck 11. This rotational movement takes place in ananticlockwise direction. When the stopper 8 is unscrewed, the userterminates the extraction by exerting a translational movement. Inpractice, this translational movement is accompanied by a rotationalmovement in the same direction as the one which caused the unscrewing ofthe stopper 8.

[0034] Owing to the fact that the layers S of the brush 1 turn in thesame direction as the screw thread 9, the negotiation of the wringingdevice 12 by the layers S, which are given a rotational movement in theanticlockwise direction, corresponds to unscrewing the brush 1 withrespect to the wringing device 12, which reduces the resistance offeredby the bristles 3 when passing through the wringing device 12.

[0035] The bristles 3 of the brush, resisting the wringing device to alesser extent, create less of a partial vacuum, and therefore less of apressure effect during extraction. The product is better distributedalong the bristles, and these smooth the product better along theeyelashes C.

[0036] The pitch of the turns of the core 2 may be chosen to bedifferent from the pitch of the screw thread 9, to modulate the wringingthrough the wringing device 12.

[0037] Numerous variant embodiments of the brush 1 are possible. FIG. 9illustrates a slightly different form of brush produced with bristles oflarger cross-section and where a smaller number per turn is used. Thebrush may include an off-centred core.

[0038] The brush could include a mixture of bristles of differentcross-sections. The bristles may include longitudinal capillary slits orgrooves. The bristles may be tubular.

[0039] The transverse section of the bristles 3 may have differentshapes: circular, oval, multilobed, rectangular, flat, etc.

[0040] The ends of the bristles may be jagged or include a bulge. Thebristles may be formed from a mixture of relatively rigid bristles andmore flexible bristles.

[0041] In the case of a mixture of bristles of different diameter, thebristles of large diameter may be longer or shorter than those ofsmaller diameter. The bristles are made of a conventional thermoplasticmaterial such as polyamides, polyesters, polyether-block-amides orpolytetrafluoroethylene. These thermoplastic materials may containadditives changing the wettability of these bristles or their slipcharacteristics. These additives are chosen from among molybdenumsulphide, boron nitride, or the product marketed under the trade name“Teflon”, fullerenes, graphite, talc or similar materials.

1. Make-up brush, particularly for applying mascara to the eyelashes, including a core formed from a metal wire bent into a U and the branches of which are twisted to trap radial bristles between them, the core being fixed to the end of a wand, characterized in that the branches (4, 5) of the core (2) are twisted, turning to the left, to form turns which, viewed along the axis (X) from that end of the core which is fixed in the wand, (6) turn in the clockwise direction about the axis of the core when progressing from the wand (6) towards the end of the brush, whereas the bristles (3) of the brush form helical layers (S) rising from left to right in the area located between the core (2) and an observer who holds the substantially vertical brush (1) in front of him/her with its tip pointing upwards.
 2. Brush according to claim 1 , characterized in that the angle of inclination (B) of the layers of bristles (S) with respect to the axis (X) of the brush is approximately 35°.
 3. Brush according to claim 1 or 2 , in which the wand (6) carrying the core includes, at its other end, distant from the core, a stopper (8) provided with a screw thread (9) for screwing onto the neck (11) of a container (R) containing the mascara, this neck (11) being equipped with a wringing device (12) through which the brush passes when it is withdrawn from the container, characterized in that the branches (4, 5) of the core (2) of the brush are twisted to form turns turning in the same direction as the screw thread (9) of the stopper.
 4. Brush according to claim 3 , for which the direction of screwing of the stopper (8) relative to the container (11) is the clockwise direction, characterized in that the branches (4, 5) of the core (2) are twisted so that the turns turn in the clockwise direction about the axis (X) of the core, when progressing from that part of the core which is fixed in the wand towards the free end of the core.
 5. Method for manufacturing a make-up brush, particularly for applying mascara to the eyelashes, according to which method, after having folded a metal wire (f) over into a U and after having placed bristles (3) between the branches (4, 5) of the U, the branches of the U are twisted, characterized in that, to twist the branches, the bent part of the U is turned in the anticlockwise direction (q) relative to the free ends of the branches (4, 5). 